Riyadh – Taiz- Houthi politician in Yemen Saleh Ali al-Sammad, head of the Supreme Political Council within the insurgency-led self-styled state, ordered the revoking of all rules issued by ministers loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A set of regulations and appointments were passed and made when Saleh was in office that Sammad considered unlawful and beyond the lawmakers’ jurisdiction.

Sammad’s announcement unleashed a legal battle exclusive to the self-proclaimed state led by putschists.

Addressing disputed Prime Minister Abdel-Aziz bin Habtour, Sammad annulled all bylaws drafted or passed by Habtour’s Sana’a-based ‘government of national salvation.’ Hires made by the Saleh-assembled government were also repealed.

The Habtour-led government is not recognized internationally and was made active as of October 4, 2016. It has jurisdiction over coup turf solely.

Yemen has descended into chaos as Iran-aligned Houthi militias cooperated in 2014 with armed loyalists backing the then recently deposed Saleh.

As events unfolded, internal conflict surfaced as Saleh warned ending the alliance with Houthis as they proved commitment to an Iran outlined agenda. The rift further widened as regional geopolitics shifted with the United States escalating threats directed against Iran’s expansionist and aggressive activity.

All the more, officials affiliated with the General People’s Congress, a Saleh-formed party, said that the alliance thinning out was a result of the Houthi movement’s dismissive behavior. They added that the Iran-backed Houthis have not committed to a single condition stipulated by the agreement on which the salvation government was founded.

It is worth noting that Houthis had agreed to share decision-making power in the insurgency-styled authority.

As for battlefield development, a reported US airstrike targeted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants in Abyan governorate, southern Yemen on March 9. The airstrike killed AQAP commander Qasim Khalil in al Wadi’a, central Yemen.

The US conducted dozens of airstrikes targeting AQAP militants in Yemen between March 2 and 6. AQAP arrested two individuals accused of being US informants in southern Abyan governorate following these airstrikes.

Yemeni government forces also approached the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa, taking control of a number of strategically important targets in its vicinity.

“The forces of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi backed by the coalition (referring to the Saudi-led Arab coalition) have taken control of strategic positions… and are close to capturing the center of Nihm district, which is located in 30 kilometers from Sanaa,” a source told Sputnik.